All the major combat commands of the branches of the United States Armed Forces will soon acquire units with the sole mission of launching cyber attacks.
This is the forecast made by Vice Admiral Michael Rogers, head of the Naval Cyber Command, during a Senate hearing. Vice Admiral Rogers is the Obama administration's nominee for the position of head of the NSA (National Security Agency).
As Vice Admiral Rogers said, the activation of such military units would help counter offensive actions from attacks via the Internet, which can be carried out from any point on the planet. He emphasized that the United States are an «easy target» for cyber attacks, as they do not show the willingness to respond accordingly. He also noted that the United States will remain vulnerable as long as they do not proceed with creating a «new architecture» for their defense.
Overall, Rogers, during the hearing process, commented in detail on how the US could develop a full cyber‑attack arsenal, spending several billion dollars. The responsible Senate committee should proceed with the appointment of the vice admiral and the position of head of the Joint Cyber Command (Cyber Command), a position that will be maintained alongside the head of the NSA.
However, this is not the first time that similar positions have been heard regarding the evolution of the American armed forces: the departing head of the Cyber Command, General Keith Alexander, announced the creation of similar groups, defense and offense, already last year.
It is also worth noting a parallel development of what was described above. It is a pilot program of DAPRA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), that is, the research service for the development of weapons systems, the Service Academy Cyber Stakes program.
Through this specific program, the possibility of training cadets (and all three branches) in cyberwarfare subjects is examined. The candidates, aged 18-24, come from the United States Military Academy at West Point, the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs.
According to DAPRA, the US Department of Defense should have 4,000 trained officers by 2017. The head of the program is retired Colonel Daniel Ragsdale, a specialist in network security and cyber deception. Also, the program includes two «experts» world-class: David Brumley, technical director of Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab, and Dan Guido, chief executive officer of Trail of Bits and professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University.
Source: naftemporiki.gr
